Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twelve analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $57.00.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CNQ. Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research report on Friday, August 7th. TD Securities restated a “buy” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a report on Friday, August 7th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, September 4th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 19th.

Canadian Natural Resources Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of NYSE CNQ opened at $50.02 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 1.00. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $47.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.15. Canadian Natural Resources has a fifty-two week low of $29.68 and a fifty-two week high of $52.31. The company has a market cap of $103.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.35 and a beta of 0.47.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.15. Canadian Natural Resources had a return on equity of 23.91% and a net margin of 22.78%.The company had revenue of $14.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.40 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Canadian Natural Resources will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Canadian Natural Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be given a dividend of $0.625 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $2.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.0%. Canadian Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.69%.

Institutional Trading of Canadian Natural Resources

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 31.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 146,331,336 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $4,956,204,000 after purchasing an additional 35,067,143 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new position in Canadian Natural Resources during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,411,619,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 11,020.4% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,680,735 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $124,672,000 after buying an additional 3,647,636 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 10.0% in the first quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 37,457,500 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,826,578,000 after buying an additional 3,397,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mufg Securities Canada LTD. lifted its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 105.7% during the second quarter. Mufg Securities Canada LTD. now owns 6,350,644 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $250,892,000 after buying an additional 3,262,880 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.03% of the company’s stock.

About Canadian Natural Resources

Canadian Natural Resources Limited (CNRL) is a Canadian independent crude oil and natural gas exploration, development, production, marketing and refining company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta. The company produces a range of energy products, including heavy and light crude oil, synthetic crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids.

CNRL’s operations are concentrated in Western Canada, where it holds significant oil sands, conventional oil and natural gas assets. Its oil sands business includes mining and upgrading operations as well as in situ thermal projects.